A second-grade look at Valentine’s Day

CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON

“God loves each one of us, as if there was only one of us.”

-- AUGUSTINE

I’ll never understand how God can love each one of us so

completely and unconditionally, but I’m so thankful that he does. God

worked in a unique way recently to make me think about his love. I

found a crumpled old Valentine that said:

“Roses are red

Violets are blue,

God loves someone special,

And that someone is You!”

The message seems simple, the meaning is profound. I also found

two Valentine cards by Charles Schulz that say:

“What’s the one thing you can get on Valentine’s Day that’s OK to

give back?

“A Hug!”

“Knock Knock!

Who’s There?

Yukon!

Yukon Who?

Yukon be my Valentine Anytime!”

I was cleaning when I found the cards, and I also came across a

picture of my second-grade class and me. They made me think of all

the knock-knock jokes we told as children. Some made sense and others

didn’t. I still enjoy hearing children tell those jokes and

limericks, and I probably laugh harder at the ones that have no rhyme

or reason at all.

Here we are, face to face with Valentine’s Day. Sometimes we are

face to face with loved ones, sometimes we aren’t, and often we send

cards to show how much we care about others. I remember Valentine’s

Day as a child. In second grade, we decorated shoeboxes with colored

construction paper, glue and stickers. I recall sitting at my little

brown desk and cutting pink and red heart shapes until my hands were

tired. I wrote my name on the box and cut a slot for my classmates to

drop in Valentines.

We also made colorful cards for our family members and by the time

we were finished, our desks and clothes were almost as covered with

glue and glitter as our cards were. We washed our hands and desks and

let adults deal with the rest.

It was exciting to open our boxes and receive all the candy and

cards. I haven’t been a second-grader for a long time, so I asked my

good friend Phyllis Hamilton to tell me what her second-grade

students thought about Valentine’s Day. Many of the papers had

similar responses, and the students wrote that it is a day to

celebrate love, and about how much they loved their parents,

siblings, animals and chocolate. While all the students loved the

cards and treats, there were parts that weren’t equally enjoyed.

One student said, “Valentine’s Day means that you share your love

all around the world. Sometimes you kiss on Valentine’s Day. That is

the part I don’t like about it.” Another student had a surprising

definition. He wrote, “Valentine’s Day means when Jesus rose again

and it means you have a party time.”

This delightful word picture by a 6-year-old boy named Mark

crossed my e-mail screen: “When you love somebody, your eyelashes go

up and down and little stars come out of you.”

The God who created eyelashes and stars also created and loves

you. You may not be in second grade and you may not have a shoebox to

open on Valentine’s Day, but God’s love is open to us every day of

the year.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at

cindy@ onthegrow.com or through the mail at 537 Newport Center Drive,

Suite 505, Newport Beach, CA 92660.